Chapter 5

Luca POV

The more Nina continued her rampage, the more I felt like putting my hands on her shoulders and shaking her until she shut the hell up. She was making the headache which had plagued me from the moment I had joined Eliana in the SUV infinitely worse. 

“Enough, Nina. I understand your concerns, but this is a business deal, not romantically linked at all,” I told her firmly, slumping down on the plush sofa at the foot of the king sized bed. 

“But she is your mate, you cannot tell me you won’t get your heart involved and neglect all that we have worked toward,” she threw back as she headed to the sideboard and poured a splash of brandy into a glass with ice before she handed it to me. 

I gratefully took a sip, savouring the oak notes before I swallowed and pressed the cool glass to my forehead. 

“Nina, I rejected her for that very reason. If it weren't for the fact that I spent far too much money getting her out of the hands of my enemies - and that she has a skill which we are desperately in need of for our plans to progress - I would have left her on the side of the road the moment our bond was broken.”

I took her hand in mine as she sat beside me, squeezing it gently. Her eyes met mine and there was obvious concern reflecting in the dark brown pools. 

“I just worry about you,” her voice was barely a whisper. 

“I know, thank you,” I managed to say, my words seeming empty to my own ears even though I knew Nina was one of the few people who knew the real me - the me behind the roles I played and the rumours. 

She sighed and rested her head on my shoulder for a few moments before she turned her dark eyes toward mine again. 

“Do you mind sharing with me what this grand plan of yours is? Or are you forgetting that we’re meant to be partners in this business,” her voice took on a steely edge and she moved away from me, turning her body on the couch so that she faced me. 

My wolf, Bruno, growled at her disrespectful tone.

“We’re not business partners, Nina. You're my consigliere - in fact, you’re not even that. Your father is my consigliere, meant to provide his guidance and council and that is all. I’ve extended you the same courtesy because you are like family to me, but I am still the boss. And I’m still your alpha. Don’t forget that.” 

Where most women would have crumbled at my harsh words, Nina merely lifted her perfectly waxed brow, issuing a silent challenge my way. "Family, Luca? I'm merely famiglia? A cousin or sister?" She pouted prettily before she continued, the devil on her shoulder clearly putting words in her ear. "I didn't realise you slept with your cousins." 

My headache returned with a vengeance and I shut my eyes against her attack. It wasn't a secret that Nina and I had a complex relationship. By no means romantic, it was just that occasionally we found ourselves in bed together. Stress relief, if you will. 

"You know what I mean, Nina. I don't need to run every decision I make past you and your father," I grumbled, draining the glass of the last few sips of brandy before I held my glass out to her for a refill.  

"It would be nice if you at least gave me warning before you bring your mate into all of our lives. Rejected or not, she still poses a threat to you if one of Lenito’s or Antonio’s men gets hold of her.”

She poured me another brandy, taking a sip of it herself before she handed me the glass and sat beside me once again. 

“And that is why she isn’t staying in this forsaken country. She needs to complete her final year at university so I’m sending her to enrol with Professor Bianchi at Cambridge University in England.” I announced with a smile into my brandy, watching Nina’s face carefully. 

It took her a few moments before the full implications of my words permeated her brain and a bright smile lit up her face. “Oh, you’re brilliant! Scotland Yard uses their facilities all the time, it will be easy to access whatever is needed to hack their system and once she’s in there will be no stopping us.”

“Enzo is setting up her accommodation there, and Professor Bianchi has already messaged him to say he would welcome a fresh new mind for him to impart his brilliance into. It’s just about getting her to England.”

A knock on the door halted my conversation and Nina went and opened the door at my nod, my younger brother entering with his hands behind his back. 

“And?” I prompted when I noticed that he was reluctant to speak. “Where is she?”

“She’s having a shower and changing into something more appropriate. She was a little taken aback that you still wanted her to complete her studies, and I mentioned that she would probably be asked to do her masters degree as well which she seemed thrilled with. She only had two concerns. Firstly, her mother. She didn’t know what to tell the old woman. Secondly, her twin brother. Apparently he was attacked at the same time as she was taken. I made a quick call to my contact in the area and they haven’t heard anything, but no body was found either. It was either a very clean hit, or he has been taken.” 

He shrugged and moved to cross his arms across his chest as he leant back against the wall. “I don’t know what to tell her.”

I exhaled forcibly, wishing the bloody day would just end already. 

“The truth. She can tell her mother she received a full scholarship to Cambridge but has to leave immediately. As for her brother, well we don’t actually know much, do we? Tell her what you know but don’t waste any more time on it. If her brother is dead, then he is dead. If he’s alive, well then good for him.”

“She’s going to be upset,” Enzo warned, his soft side showing - proving once again that he would never be able to lead this family the way a Don needed to. 

“Let her be. It’s not like I can change what is out of my control. She needs to be in England within a week so if she needs to grieve she must do so now and get it out of her system.” 

Nina looked at me before she stood up and walked over to the window, shaking her head slightly. 

“Oh, don’t you start too,” I chastised her, taking a swig of my brandy to wash away the bitter taste in my mouth. “That woman has far too many emotions, and she reveals them as if she is an open book.” 

“And that’s a bad thing?” she shot back at me.

“Do you even need to ask me that?” I lifted an eyebrow at her, mocking her signature glare.

Enzo leant against the wall, his legs crossed at the ankles. “When you're done with whatever is going on between you two, we need to discuss our reason for being in this blasted country.”

Nina turned back to me but remained by the window, her interest peaked. “Have there been any new developments?”

“No, unfortunately not,” I swirled the brandy in my glass, watching the liquid as my brain categorised the events of the last few weeks. “Three of my personal subordinates have gone missing and not a single one of my contacts have seen or heard anything suspicious. It was a simple transaction and should have been seamless - make the trade and come back with the diamonds.” 

“There's no evidence of foul play apart from their disappearance, ” Nina said matter of factly.  “Besides, you've got the diamonds now. The three men were likely working together and are probably on some secluded island somewhere, sipping martinis.” 

Enzo snorted and shook his head at Nina but didn't say anything as she continued. 

“You've sussed out the local neighbourhood and there's been no sign of the men. Even your private tour of that auction house came up empty, although I'm not sure why you'd ever think someone would sell three men who are under your protection,” Nina’s monologue was emphatic. “The only thing you've picked up in this awful city is a mate.” 

I clenched and released my fist, suppressing the urge to wring her pretty little neck at the blatant insult. “I know my men. They would not betray me.”

Enzo coughed uncomfortably before he moved toward the door. “I said I would help Eliana get in contact with her mother to let her know that she is safe. I will leave you two to it, then.”

The door closed with a bang behind him, shock waves reverberating through my skull. Did no one give a damn that my head was pounding? Apparently not. I got up and fetched some paracetamol from the cabinet in the bathroom and swallowed it with a gulp of brandy.  

“What are your plans for the evening, and don’t tell me you’re planning on leaving me alone with your pain in the arse brother again. If you’re planning on getting him back to Italy in one piece you will find a way to keep him and I apart,” Nina complained, mimicking ringing someone’s neck. 

I smirked at her, knowing full well how much she must have hated spending the whole day with my ever-cheerful brother. I secretly used him to punish her whenever I was particularly upset or annoyed with her - and it worked like a charm. 

“I need to fetch a package at the strip club downtown,” I responded, leaving the invitation open for her to join me. 

“You don’t need to ask me twice,” she jumped at the opportunity, already heading toward the door so she could get ready for her night on the town. 

A few hours later we were sitting in our private booth, a gloriously fake, blonde stripper hanging upside down from the pole in front of me, her tits barely contained in the miniscule glittery bikini top. She twirled around the pole and dropped onto all fours, crawling toward Nina and myself seductively. Nina giggled and shoved a twenty into the woman’s thong.

Usually I enjoyed myself whenever we went to a club, but tonight my mind kept going back to the woman with strange purple eyes who was holed up in my hotel suite. I could almost see her sitting across the club, nervously fiddling with her hair as she sat across from Enzo. 

Hold on... Enzo? 

I wasn't just imagining it! Eliana was sitting a few tables away, smiling sweetly at my idiot brother while he ordered drinks. 

I was going to murder him.